Controlling only for age and gender, compared to moderate drinkers, abstainers had a more than 2 times increased mortality risk, heavy drinkers had 70% increased risk, and light drinkers had 23% increased risk. A model controlling for former problem drinking status, existing health problems, and key sociodemographic and social-behavioral factors, as well as for age and gender, substantially reduced the mortality effect for abstainers compared to moderate drinkers. However, even after adjusting for all covariates, abstainers and heavy drinkers continued to show increased mortality risks of 51 and 45%, respectively, compared to moderate drinkers.

My immediate reaction, as an academic, is that I can’t wait for these results to make an appearance in the arguments about campus alcohol policy. That’s going to be simultaneously hilarious and painful.

Both Time magazine and Slate report the news Jeopardy-style, with a headline in the form of a question (“Why do Heavy Drinkers Outlive Non-Drinkers?” and “How Does Booze Extend Your Lifespan?”). I am obviously not a medical doctor, but in the fine tradition of physicists pontificating about other fields, I do have a simple answer to this question:

How does alcohol use make you live longer? Because if you’re drinking alcohol at all, you’re clearly not stressing yourself out trying to follow the latest medical advice. I figure that by itself is good for a substantial reduction in the rate of heart attacks while trying to figure out which kind of cholesterol is the good one, again.

The optimal strategy, by the way (if you don’t want to follow the links), appears to be 2-3 drinks per day. Which means most American college students are all set, provided they stop drinking altogether at 25.

Comments

I would take these results more as an illustration of the stupidity of our alcohol consumption laws and attitudes. We make it forbidden to anybody under 21, which gives it the appeal of the forbidden and also encourages anybody under that age who gets hold of a supply to consume to excess. I know several people who came to the US from various European countries, and they generally say that it’s better to get the stupidity out of your system at an age where people can take care of you. I know that some European countries (mainly in the north and east) have significant problems with people consuming in excess, but many others (including Germany and France) do not.

An optimum of 2-3 per day still sounds high to me, but that may be because my average consumption is much lower. I still notice the buzz that a second glass of wine with a meal gives me, and having your drinks with a meal is supposed to mitigate such effects. I generally avoided alcohol in high school and college precisely because frequently the purpose of drinking was to get drunk, a game I had no desire to play.

Books

You've read the blog, now try the books:

Eureka: Discovering Your Inner Scientist will be published in December 2014 by Basic Books. "This fun, diverse, and accessible look at how science works will convert even the biggest science phobe." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) "In writing that is welcoming but not overly bouncy, persuasive in a careful way but also enticing, Orzel reveals the “process of looking at the world, figuring out how things work, testing that knowledge, and sharing it with others.”...With an easy hand, Orzel ties together card games with communicating in the laboratory; playing sports and learning how to test and refine; the details of some hard science—Rutherford’s gold foil, Cavendish’s lamps and magnets—and entertaining stories that disclose the process that leads from observation to colorful narrative." --Kirkus ReviewsGoogle+

How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog is published by Basic Books. "“Unlike quantum physics, which remains bizarre even to experts, much of relativity makes sense. Thus, Einstein’s special relativity merely states that the laws of physics and the speed of light are identical for all observers in smooth motion. This sounds trivial but leads to weird if delightfully comprehensible phenomena, provided someone like Orzel delivers a clear explanation of why.” --Kirkus Reviews "Bravo to both man and dog." The New York Times.

How to Teach Physics to Your Dog is published by Scribner. "It's hard to imagine a better way for the mathematically and scientifically challenged, in particular, to grasp basic quantum physics." -- Booklist "Chad Orzel's How to Teach Physics to Your Dog is an absolutely delightful book on many axes: first, its subject matter, quantum physics, is arguably the most mind-bending scientific subject we have; second, the device of the book -- a quantum physicist, Orzel, explains quantum physics to Emmy, his cheeky German shepherd -- is a hoot, and has the singular advantage of making the mind-bending a little less traumatic when the going gets tough (quantum physics has a certain irreducible complexity that precludes an easy understanding of its implications); finally, third, it is extremely well-written, combining a scientist's rigor and accuracy with a natural raconteur's storytelling skill." -- BoingBoing